Thursday, May 26, 2011

If I'm going to have a blog about my travels, and some of my favorite places, it makes sense to start with where I grew up. If you look at a map of the UK and find London, then follow the coastline out to the tip of the southeastern point, you find Thanet. Once an island in its own right before the channel silted up, Thanet is still affectionately referred to by residents as Planet Thanet.

Ramsgate, my hometown, is on the south side of the isle. Above you can see the harbor, marina, and part of the old Regency period coastline. It's from this harbor that I used to gaze across the English Channel toward France, dreaming of places I would one day visit. It's from the harbor that I watched the little ships return from Dunkirk in their reenactments of the World War II evacuations. The harbor remains my favorite place to visit when I am home, but to this day I wonder if it is because of the area or because of the freedom the sea promises.